H.B. to stick with original site for senior center

City Council members looked at alternate sites for the Huntington Beach Senior Center but determined the best place to build is Central Park, at least for now. Two lawsuits have stalled the project but alternatives would likely be more costly and could take just as long. FILE PHOTO

Senior Center alternates

Here's a more detailed look at the alternate locations presented to the council.

Rodgers Senior Center

Size: 2-acre site with room for a 25,000-square-foot, two-story building

Cost: $13.4 million to $18.4 million in construction costs with up to $6.8 million in possible additional costs

Constraints: The project might need voter approval, could be the most expensive option and might not be big enough; this facility would not have an outdoor component

Park Tree and Landscape Yard

Size: 2.5-acre site with room for a 37,563-square-foot building

Cost: $14 million in construction costs with up to more than $5 million in additional costs

Constraints: Voter approval is required; project also requires site demolition and relocation of the city's maintenance yard and equipment

Despite several years of litigation and hundreds of thousands of dollars spent on legal issues, the Huntington Beach City Council determined Monday that Central Park remains the best place to construct a new senior center – for now.

Council members looked at their report during a study session that considered two alternate locations to determine whether building in a new space could mean seniors would get their center sooner.

The study analyzed building a new site at the current Rodgers Senior Center on Orange Avenue or building a facility on five acres at the Park Tree and Landscape Yard at Gothard Street and Slater Avenue.

Neither were options the council wanted to support with lawsuits looming.

"What I'm hearing from this council right now is we're not ready to look at any other site ... until the outcome of this lawsuit is known," Mayor Connie Boardman said.

City staff's report showed rebuilding at the current Rodgers Senior Center was likely the most costly option.

It would mean getting voter approval for the project, up to $18.4 million in construction costs and up to about $6.6 million in other costs, including issuing an environmental report. The project at the current site would have to be multi-storied with an underground parking structure.

It also would not be as big as the current plan, which allows for a more than 37,500-square-foot facility, the report said.

Building at the Park Tree and Landscape Yard would also need voter approval and could cost up to $14 million with more than $5 million in additional costs, the report said.

"I was hoping there would be a quicker alternative to provide a high-quality senior center ... but looking at this now I see it would require months and months, if not years and years," Boardman said.

Some council members said the city should stick with building in Central Park because that was the option put forth and approved by voters in 2006.

"The voters gave us direction, not just permission, to locate the senior center in Central Park," said Councilman Matthew Harper. "I'm of the belief and of the mindset that this council should support the decision by the voters."

If and when the project can move forward in Central Park is still an unknown.

The Parks Legal Defense Fund, a community group opposed to the project, has been fighting the project since its approval.

The city first released a report of the impacts of the proposed project in 2007 and it was approved by City Council members, along with a conditional use permit, in February 2008.

The Defense Fund filed a lawsuit in March 2008, saying the city violated its own building plans, ignored environmental criteria and improperly used development fees.

A Superior Court judge sided with the Defense Fund in 2009, saying the project would have to be moved to a new location, but the city appealed the decision.

The 4th District Court of Appeal handed down a decision in December 2011 saying the city could build the senior center in Central Park but ordered the city to issue a new environmental report.

City Council members in April 2012 approved Central Park for the center's location, and the Defense Fund filed a writ of mandate saying the city violated various state environmental laws and the city's own general plan.

City staff said there are two lawsuits pending with the Parks Legal Defense Fund. The next hearing is set for March 28 to consider the case.

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